Giving Yourself a Chance by Jannine Gallant

That feeling you have when you pull everything together and actually believe you're on the right path... It's a great feeling! That's where I am right now. I finished my WIP and sent it off to Margo. Awesome CP that she is, she sent it back to me in under a week. She had some issues (nothing new there), but they were mostly problems I anticipated.

1) Too many relatives as suspects. Can't keep them all straight. I was afraid of this but was too lazy to remove any. However, after hearing her opinion, I'm getting rid of a couple. Not that traumatic, after all. Check.

2) TSTL (too stupid to live) moment. This one I actually hadn't anticipated. But I could see it once she pointed it out and have come up with a solution to my hero's momentary lapse. Check.

3) Hero lacks a defining moment and needs more conflict. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's an easy-going guy. Sometimes too easy-going. We figured out a way to have him act more "heroic" in the end, and I'll work on making him a little more irritated and less accepting in a couple of other spots. Check.

4) She didn't complain that my heroine is too much of a "kick-ass and take names" woman. I was a little worried she came off as hard. Daughter #1 loved this character because she thinks it's great when a woman saves the day. Based on the feedback from them both, my heroine gets to stay as is. Yippee!

So, I feel I'm on the right path with this book. It should be ready to send to my editor, along with the series proposal, before the end of the month.

Timing is everything, right? LOST INNOCENCE releases on June 26th--click HERE to pre-order! I have a BookBub ad out on June 26th for an old book, EVERY MOVE SHE MAKES. My hope is that the ad will produce prolonged sales for all my suspense books and give the new release a huge boost. So, my goal is to send my proposal for the new series off to Kensington by June 26th. If sales are the make it or break it factor for a new print deal, then the end of the month is the best possible time to submit. We'll see what happens. At any rate, I have a plan to give myself the best opportunity for a positive outcome, and that feels good.

Kristen at the river in Gasquet.

Finally, I just picked daughter #2 (Kristen) up from college. She had a good freshman year after a few issues she dealt with on her own. It's nice to see your kids "adult" without help. We spent a couple of days at my mom's house before driving home. Daughter #1 (Tara) is home from college already. She sent her med school application off on June 1st to 18 schools and now waits for requests for secondary apps (and then interviews) from schools interested in her. Crossing our fingers, but she did everything possible to give herself the best chance at success.

In short, we each do our job and try to set ourselves up for success. If we suspect a problem exists, there probably is one. Fix it. If we know what is necessary to get a certain outcome, then do the legwork to set up a positive situation. It's something to think about going forward.